Best movie attack/combat scene

Nathan · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2011 1:40 pm

A spin off from my earlier thread. I wondered what everyone thinks is the best scene in WAR movies dealing with aviation combat? I thought the attack scene on Wheeler in Tora, Tora, Tora to be one of the best. It doesnt really hold true on what really happened. The only take offs under attack on December 7th was three P-40's at Bellows. But I thought it was really well done. Some of the mock up P-40's had real Allison engines bolted to them. You actually hear the sound of real Allisons as they try to take off. Ever notice when one of the P-40's slams into the parked P-40's? In the background you can see a Allison engine bouncing accrossed the pavement. Looked like it was on a slingshot! :shock:

Warbirdnerd · **Joined:** Fri Apr 30, 2004 7:34 pm **Posts:** 2923

This scene from Apocalypse Now gets my vote..

Quote:

Willard and the PBR crew rendezvous with Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall), commanding a squadron of Air Cavalry attack helicopters, for escort to the Nung River. Initially scoffing at their request for escort, Kilgore, a keen surfer, learns that a member of the boat's crew, Lance Johnson, is a professional surfer, and befriends him. When Willard suggests the coastal mouth of the Nung river for the boat and crew to be taken, Kilgore is reluctant to approach the heavily fortified position held by the Viet Cong, but changes his mind after learning of the excellent surfing conditions there. The beach is taken amidst napalm strikes and "Ride of the Valkyries" played over the choppers' loudspeakers, after which Kilgore orders Lance and other surfers in his command to surf the beach amidst enemy fire. While Kilgore nostalgically regales all around him of a previous napalm strike, Willard gathers his men to the PBR, which has been dropped from a helicopter into the river, and they begin their journey

LysanderUK · **Joined:** Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:01 pm **Posts:** 271

The strafing scene in Empire of the Sun gets my vote, although Tora runs it very, very close.

If I remember rightly, the powered P40 mock-ups for Tora had an engine of some kind, but they weren't Allisons! The Allison noises were the work of the sound effects guys I would suggest...

One of the reasons the action sequences look so good in Tora is because so many of the stunts went wrong! That P40 that veers off into the line of others wasn't supposed to do that, hence the bunch of guys running for thier lives very convincingly!

agent86 · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 3:57 am **Posts:** 926

check out the War Lover page 12 ,video link page

Dan K · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:06 pm

The last ten minutes of Flight of the Intruder, where Jay Cullum and Steve Hinton show the VC some serious low-level Able Dog love.

The train scene from Dark Blue World not bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0stVlJXAsbQ

Garth · **Posted:** Tue Aug 09, 2011 9:57 pm

There are a number of different ones I could suggest, but the one in the youtube video below ALWAYS makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up when I watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyjNInIH ... re=related

Chappie · **Joined:** Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:40 am **Posts:** 987

Wow so many movies. The ones already mentioned are great. But what first came to my mind was the Zeroes strafing Ford Island in Tora! Tora! Tora!...seeing those guys bursting through the smoke in a bank 30 eet off the ground?! Wow! The B-17 coming out of the smoke on one wheel was pretty awesome too.

The other scene that came to mind was the last dogfight in the Battle of Britian- the music was fabulous.

Although not a combat scene one of my favorite flying scenes was the first aerial scene in Strategic Air Command where Dutch Holland goes on that training mission in the B-36. The music, engine runs ups, close take-off shots, the clouds, the music, the sunset....fabulous.

Chappie

JohnB · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:59 am

Not really combat per se, but the MITO scene from A Gathering of Eagles gets my heart going.
Of course it helps if you've "been there, done that".

DarenC1 · **Joined:** Sun May 07, 2006 8:10 am **Posts:** 235

The Skyraider scene from Flight of the Intruder would be a good candidate.

Dark Blue World's train attack is brilliant, too.

The Northern Raid scene from Battle of Britain is just awesome, though. Makes me feel really patriotic when that Heinkel ploughs into the sea and the music kicks in!

Darling Lili had some nice dogfights in it - pity the rest of the film was mince, though.

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 8:18 am

I gotta agree with Chris on this one. The attack on Wheeler in TTT is probably my all time favorite, especially the scene of the P-40 smashing into a line of parked aircraft. As mentioned above, while it looked spectacular, it wasn't intended to play out that way. In the DVD commentary, the director said that the replicas were steered by differential braking, and were not intended to fly. However, the wings still generated lift, and once one wheel came off the ground, they completely lost control. The effects guys went ahead and detonated the onboard explosives to keep the out-of-control thing from killing anyone.

SN

CLETUS · **Joined:** Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:55 pm **Posts:** 12

My favorite is the scence from "PEARL HARBOR" when Josh Hartnett (Danny) and Ben Affleck (Rafe) take off across the grass with three zeros on their tails. They fly between hangers and the tower trying to shake these zeros. Great action!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT93tP1j ... re=related

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:28 am

I know this is mainly meant for warbird scenes, but my favorite attack scene is in band of Brothers. Dick Winters runs across the open field with the rest of the company trailing him, and he climbs to the top of a hill and starts shooting on an entire German company from the hip. Fires off an entire clip in his M-1, reloads and continues firing. The scene is based on fact according to the books I've read. This man should have been given the Medal of Honor.

Xrayist · **Joined:** Wed Jun 08, 2005 12:51 am **Posts:** 329

Battle of Britain
Dambusters
Fighter Squadron...love them P-47's
Catch 22
Always
Great Waldo Pepper
Strategic Air Command...magnificent B-36 footage, and some nice B-47 footage
Bridges at Toko Ri
Battle Hymn
12 O'Clock High

TonyM · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 11:25 am

mustangdriver wrote:

I know this is mainly meant for warbird scenes, but my favorite attack scene is in band of Brothers. Dick Winters runs across the open field with the rest of the company trailing him, and he climbs to the top of a hill and starts shooting on an entire German company from the hip. Fires off an entire clip in his M-1, reloads and continues firing. The scene is based on fact according to the books I've read. This man should have been given the Medal of Honor.

How about when Lt. Spears takes over for Lt. Dyke. Spears runs a couple hundred yards across an open area while under fire. He relieves Dyke, Takes over, Directs the Platoon, and then runs back (again exposed and under fire) to his CP. Wow.

TM

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 11:42 am

Yeah that is another. It is easy to see why folks call them the Greatest Generation

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